Kershaw Storm 2 upgrade to AO?

[Prince of Peace]

SO I found myself at the local Wal Mart yesterday and as I looked childlike through the glass window case at pictures of knives I was finally waited on.

Nope we don't have that one, nope not that one either. Nope none of those.

They only show pictures of their stock not the actual inventory, why I can't guess. But I felt like a real pud standing there and asking over and over again what I wanted to see only to be told they were out of it.
After about 6 or 7 strike outs I offered to let the salesperson tell me if they indeed had knives under the counter, and if so which ones could I choose from. Things started slowly,he not even knowing how to pronounce the word Spyderco. But we quickly established that he really didn't have anything new I wanted to try. As I turned to walk away in disgust and shame I heard him say "We got a Kershaw Storm...the BIG one!"
That's more like it I thought. A Kershaw and a Ken Onion design... and it's the BIG one too. I 'll take it I said. "Wanna see it first?" he queried. Nope.."my turn to say that" I'll take it in a bag and look at it at home.
I tore through the wrapping to my meaty blade and WOW is it a sleek blade!
I think I could really enjoy using this dolphin shaped chunk of steel but for one problem. I can't get it to open nice.
I tried adjusting the pivot screw and the fit tolerances are so tight that when I do loosen it until I can use the flipper on the spine it would have blade play and still is TIGHT coming out of the handle.
So my ultimate question is can I being of NO mechanical prowess at all install a torsion bar to help coax the blade out? I seem to have no luck with the screw adjusting,but boy if this whopper worked like my Leek I'd have a new EDC.
How about it any of you Kershaw tech types have a solid suggestion as to how I can get the blade out of the handle in less that 4 seconds?
Thanks,
Peace.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

I've got the Storm II. I really, really like it and I carry it a lot.

The thumbstuds are tricky. Like many folders, you have to push forward, not out away from the knife. Then it snaps open pretty easily.

The flipper is interesting. I also had some trouble at first, but it loosened up nicely. Now a slight flick of my index finger and the blade pops out. The pivot is pretty tight, too -- absolutely no blade play.

What you have to do is play with it a while and it will loosen up. At first, a slight wrist action along with the finger flick will help. A bit of kubrication might help, but I didn't need any. Forget about a torsion bar. It isn't built to take one.

 

[eojk]

I had an original Storm(small?). It will loosen up with use, but it may need some oil. It becomes fairly smooth with little or no play after it "breaks in." I absolutely hated the thumbstuds though. They positively gouge your thumbs, particularly when the knife is new and stiff. I ended up smoothing them out a bit with sandpaper to ameliorate the problem. Those thumbstuds keep me from even considering the Blur, depite its recent steel upgrade.

 

[rottwang]

the storm two is hard to open because the detent seems to be rather stiff & the thumbstud seems to be meant to be used in tandem with the index flipper. i gave one of these to a friend and he still opens it two handed after six months.

the thumb stud, as you very well know, is awkward to use, due to it's proximity to the handle and the angle that the stud is machined at. the storm requires you to use a different circular thumb motion. when holding the knife in your right hand try pushing out, to the left, then upwards. (as opposed to designs where the user can push straight 'up')

in my experience with my storm 1 and 2, there are a few ways to open the knife.

With a circular thumb motion as usual,

With a 'flick' of the thumb, that is, working the tip of the finger between the handle and the stud and flicking outward, as you would actuating the AO feature in a K.O. design such as the Avalanche or the Blur,

By simultaneously applying pressure to the flipper and the thumbstud, which easily provides enough force to overcome the detent. the motion is followed through by the thumb which opens the knife fully.

finally you can hit the flipper with your index and use a flick of the wrist to open the knife.

my best advice is to just practice opening the thing until your fingers are rubbed raw.

(edit)
oh you could get it appropriately loose then loctite the pivot screw down.

also i seriously doubt you will be able to put a speed safe mechanism in the knife. if you want something simliar but easier to open check out the 'steven seagal'

 

[milkjuggz]

Hey guys, my first post here so I thought I'd chime in on this subject.

I have the regular storm and rubbed my thumb raw the first day I got it! It was incredibly hard to overcome the detent. I wanted to get rid of it because it was nearly useless, however I loved the shape and blade so much I decided to work on it.

I put some lapping paste where the detent on the framelock slides into the blade. After working it a few hundred times watching tv :jerkit: it loosened up quite a bit.

Just a few things to look out for. It helps if you press downward with your thumb (toward the untextured scale) while opening along with a flicking motion. Since the knife is so slim, it's easy for your ring and middle fingernail to block the blade from opening (which is what happened to me without even knowing) It should also be a very fast knife if you reverse the clip and use the flipper.

I also contacted kershaw about it and said they'd look at it, so that's another route if all else fails

Good luck!